


The bulletproof knight

by Danieladelucia



Category: Chicago PD (TV), Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Aggression, Angst, Drunk Rafael Barba, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Rafael Barba, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, M/M, Pre-Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr., Rafael Barba Whump, Sweet Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:41:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26729851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Danieladelucia/pseuds/Danieladelucia
Summary: "So you noticed.""Hard not to do.""I didn't think you were so perceptive, you surprise me.""Careful Barba, it almost sounded like a compliment.""Who knows."𝗢𝗿:𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗥𝗮𝗳𝗮𝗲𝗹 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗮 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲, 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗵 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗺.*English Is not my first language*
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	The bulletproof knight

"Counselor, wait."

"What?"

Barba continued to walk, not intending to entertain Amaro again, he ran a finger on the phone screen to check if someone had sent him an email that he should have answered.

"We can get a warrant, I'll have her messages checked."

Barba almost laughed "A warrant for suspicion of sexting? That's not going to happen-" his phone made a sound that he discovered was a new message coming in "-speaking of texts, our D.A wants to be briefed."

He had almost reached the elevator when Amaro appeared in front of him blocking his way.

"You know what you did topping of Munoz, you could be charged for obstruction."

"Go ahead, report me. See where that gest you."

The man took a step forward. He didn't understand what it was that gave people the impression that walking into his personal space and raising your voice would work to intimidate him.

"Are we done?"

Barba entered the elevator unlocking the phone to answer the email previously sent to him and that was why he suddenly felt suffocated when the detective slipped through the doors just before closing.

"You driving me to the D.A's office detective?"

Amaro did not answer him, he stood beside him with his arms crossed, his eyes fixed on his, too close.

"Thank you."

Time passed slowly when you were in claustrophobic spaces with a person who was not in your favor, it had never seemed to him that there were so many floors in the building.

"I'm not doing this, not because Munoz is a friend of mine."

"No I understand. It's not about friendship, it's about you being scared of going after Munoz. Because while he was staying in the neighborhood, you were going to Harvard."

"I know where I come from."

"Yes and Munoz knows it too and he's playing with you, making you feel like a sellout."

"Thank you so much for- the Bodega psychoanalisis detective-" the elevator signaled that its stop was close to arrival "- no te equivoque conmigo."

Barba walked through the elevator doors aware of the presence of the man behind him, the irritation had now taken hold of every single nerve, another single provocation nothing would have stopped him from launching a verbal lash against the detective.

"This ends here Amaro. Let me go out and go back to work."

"If I wanted to follow you you couldn't stop me."

"Oh yeah? What makes you think that?"

"That's b-"

"Amaro."

Had he ever liked Rollins? No more than he liked the man who was bothering him, which was actually quite little, but at that moment when Barba turned in the direction of the voice and saw her, along with Carisi, climbing the entrance steps of the building , he could not help but thank heaven.

"Hey, Counselor."

"Carisi, Rollins. I was leaving." Before he could turn around and begin his descent, he saw the man who had followed him on his way reaching out to grab him, but Barba had seen the action coming and stepped aside before any part of him could. come in contact with Amaro's hand.

"Keep your hands to yourself, detective." she spat looking down at him as if she were judging him.

"Is everything alright here?"  
His attention was rooted on the man standing in front of him, so he hadn't seen Carisi move towards him until he found himself staring at the detective's left shoulder who was turning his back to him with the sole intention of putting a some distance between him and the other man.

"It's okay Carisi-" took the opportunity to take a step back "-call me if you have concrete evidence."

He unlocked his phone and as he walked up the steps that separated him from the street he typed a message for a car to take him back to his office, an unexpected shadow shielded him from the sunlight which allowed him to actually verify what he was writing, when he looked up he could associate a name with the sudden eclipse, Carisi standing next to him, arms crossed and body turned towards the entrance as he stared after the figure of Amaro until he disappeared when the doors of the 'lift.

"You don't need to nurse me Carisi."

"I'll wait for your car."

"Why?"

"I like to watch the cars pass."

"You are ridiculous."

"I hear it often."

He laughed and turned to witness the scene of Carisi's lips opening wide in a bad imitation of a fish and then relaxing in a smile aimed at him.

"Thanks Carisi."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

-

"Luckily you arrived the situation is anything but-"

"You just gonna let him get away with smearing Nadia like that?"

The voice of one of the detectives from Chicago forced him to stop his footsteps and turn to look at him, the man was mediocre and Barba would have lied if he said that during their one and last brief encounter had paid such attention that he could remember her name.

"When he exceeds it, i'll object."

He had already turned his back to the man and was about to resume his pace while explaining to the woman who was alongside him what strategy he had planned to use in the classroom, when that same speaker addressed him in a tone certainly more serious than the previous exchange.

"You'll object?"

This time when he turned he did not pretend not to notice the intimidating tone in which the man was addressing him. She arched an eyebrow when she saw him advance until there was hardly any space left between them. He had heard rumors of some unverifiable cover-ups, clearly, used to cover the traces of excessive violence against some suspects and even of a probable, but again not demonstrable, murder by the man whose breath he could currently feel on his face .

"Is there a problem?"

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Carisi ceasing to be involved in any conversation he was having with Rollins to turn to look at the scene as a questioning frown made its way across his face.

"There shouldn't be. He's a murderer and a rapist."

"Sure-" he grinned trying but miserably failing not to take a derogatory attitude "-but no offense to your legal acumen, the jury isn't privy to what we know. They all see the same charming man whose smile lured dozen of womans to their death" and with this he had finished "Olivia I have to prepare-"

A strong pressure on his arm forced him to block and forget any future action he had planned to take, he looked down to check he hadn't imagined it, but what he found were five long fingers wrapped around his bicep pushing against the flesh in a painful grip, he knew what he would find when hours later, with any luck, he would return to his apartment and check for damage. He raised his chin trying to compensate for the not entirely worrying height difference and fixed his gaze on the other's.

"Do your job and you won't have to worry about me."

One of the corners of Barba's lips slanted upward and a funny sound passed those two lines of flesh.

"Sounds like a threat."

The other man bared his teeth and tugged at his arm still trapped in a painful grip "Do you find it funny? Making a dead friend ridicule by a murderer makes her laugh?"

How much unwarranted aggression. Barba had always poorly tolerated such people who preferred to use unjustified anger and physicality in uncomfortable situations, civilized people talked to each other without resorting to this type of barbarism, because some individuals could not do it would always remain unknown to him.

"My time is required elsewhere, so let me go."

He tried to step back but was not allowed, the smirk on his face quickly disappeared as he could clearly see how the jaw of the man holding him tightened into a stiff line and the hand he held stretched against his right hip began to tremble.

"Hank-" Olivia pronounced the name as if behind that simple word there was an entire inaudible speech.

"What do you want to do? Hit me?"  
Another cheeky smile appeared on his face, he almost hoped the man would hit him so that he could have the satisfaction of seeing him in handcuffs, but on the other side he was not a fighter and his arm hurt, he wanted him to let him go .

"Get away from him."

Barba didn't have to turn around to know that the voice belonged to Carisi.  
When the hand remained where it was and the man had the audacity to smile, he heard the sound of footsteps and then Carisi's hand tightened around the wrist of the one Voight, once heard the name it was not difficult to dig in the drawers of her brain and associating identity with a face, she still kept wrapped around her arm.

"I'll tell you just one more time. Get your hands off him." The last words accompanied by a final hiss.

The grip around his arm loosened and Barba took the opportunity to take a step back, refraining from bringing one of his hands to massage the injured part, gritted his teeth, his gaze remained constant on the man as if he didn't want to miss a possible rash move which would have put him in a not entirely favorable position.

"What are you his boyfriend?"

He could physically feel Carisi's fingers clenching into a fist and his teeth creaking from too much pressure, this was where he decided to go away, he hoped the man was as smart as he thought he was and didn't start a fight in the middle of the Supreme Court, clenched his fingers around the handle of his briefcase, gave the back to a scene that frankly he no longer wanted to be a part of and started walking trying to keep a steady pace, he entered a corridor and left the scene for good but not before hearing what Carisi still had to say to the detective.

"If I see you next to him again I swear you'll find yourself in prison before you can even think of doing something-"

-

He had let himself be persuaded to follow the team to a bar to celebrate the closure of a case that had given everyone three sleepless nights that none of them would ever make up for, this could have been an evening where he could relax in his huge bed. he hadn't had a chance to visit and instead was sitting in an uncomfortable chair, surrounded by people, drunk and with a vague headache that he could feel starting to come up. He was uncomfortable, he shouldn't have come.

"I think I should go. Goodnight everyone."

Nobody paid too much attention to his departure from the scene. When his body made contact with the cold night air he thought for a moment that he felt better, but then his mind started spinning, he wanted to throw up.

"What are you doing here?"

Barba turned abruptly, which he regretted, towards the voice belonging to a man leaning against the wall at a reasonable distance.

"Excuse me?"

"A nice thing like you in a place like this."

Oh. Not this night.

"I'm flattered, but not interested."

He checked how far away the car he had texted was and frowned when he noticed that he had canceled, he should have booked another one, but he couldn't stand up properly, had to put a hand against the wall behind him to seeking support while trying to write with only his right hand.

"How drunk are you honey?"

A shiver ran through him starting from the nape of his neck up to his lower back. The man who had spoken to him earlier had gotten so close to him that if he reached out he could touch him, his head kept spinning and he didn't have the strength to get away from the wall and back inside.

"I would ask you to get away from me."

"But look at you."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm going to a place, would you like to come?"

"Why should I?"

Barba released his grip on the wall to get around the man and back inside the building, but before he could move he found his way crossed by the body of the man he hadn't considered to be so imposing.

"Let me pass."

He tried to move away and leave that situation behind but it seemed that the man had sensed and decided to ignore his desire to leave, he took a step back and the other followed him.

"I feel compelled to warn you that I am the Manhattan ADA ."

"A whore with money then."

Barba's lips nearly parted in a sign of silent indignation, he refrains from showing any reaction to this stranger who was causing shivers of disgust that shook his entire body.

"Excuse me? My colleagues are waiting for me, I have to go back inside."

"But weren't you leaving?"

Fuck.

"No, actually no-" he again tried to make his way to the side of the stranger's body and almost succeeded before being pushed against the wall, his body not prepared for the sudden collision absorbed the impact as best it could, his back it collided with the hard surface first and tried to prevent further damage but the head jumped forward before crashing into the wall, a disgusting sound came from that last one along with a stabbing pain, he hoped he wasn't bleeding.

"Not so fast."

"Get your hands off me."

"Oh, it's a shame because, I'm not going to-"

A moment before the man's slimy hands gripped his body his disgusting breath brushed his face and the next moment each limb was removed from him, as the tall figure of Carisi grabbed his molester, the situation was changing with the time passed, and dragged him heavily away from his personal area.

"What are you going to do?!"

"Who the fuck are you?"

Carisi, who apparently had left his coat inside the room, unhooked the badge that he still had hooked at his waist and showed it to the man, bringing it up to his face.

"I wasn't doing anything, I swear!"

"It's not what it seemed-" Carisi turned to look at him and he realized he had remained against the wall clinging to it like a rock, he quickly moved away to go around the two and position himself behind the detective  
"did he touched you? "

"No he - he didn't have time."

"I didn't do anything to him!"

"If I find out you touched him, I swear I'll kill you."

He had never considered Carisi as an intimidating figure, but he had never been on the wrong side of the interrogation table and had never experienced firsthand what the low, hissing voice of the man could cause in people.

"Barba go get the le-"

A growing panic made its way into him, no, this wasn't going to happen.

"Let him go."

He could almost feel how much the detective's body had stiffened "What?"

"He didn't do anything to me, let him go."

"He you- you know I can't do it."

"Carisi please. Nobody will have to know, I can't-" how could he explain to Carisi that his position was precarious without adding a drama that would have shown him weak and pathetic in the eyes of high officials "-I will not file a complaint, leave him to go."

"Barba."

"Carisi."

The detective sighed before letting go of the man who stumbled before he found himself on the ground "Pray I don't see you again."

The man got up from the ground, turned, took a few steps and then started running as he suspected he would. Carisi approached him and tried to hide the fact that he was checking him for any injuries that could have been on the visible portions of skin, he refused to look the detective in the eye but did not move away when a hand landed on the lower part of the his back guiding him towards the entrance of the room.

"Can you call a car? I want to go home."

"I'm driving you home, we're just going in to get my coat."

Barba looked up at the other to be able to look at the other man's face without having to stop walking.

"You don't have to do this."

"I want."

He did not return any of the looks that the other members of the team threw him on his renewed return, nor those he received when Carisi announced that the night was over for him too and was taking him home. When he leaned his head against the seat of Carisi's car, he felt the tension that had accumulated treacherously on his shoulders, slip away. He closed his eyes.

"Sonny?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

He turned his head to the window and didn't say another word.

-

"Mr Barba?"

He looked up from the documents whose letters of the sentences contained within them kept swapping places, making them impossible to read, he felt hotter than what was considered a normal level, his eyes were burning and he was starting to feel the remains of his lunch trying to go up, he swallowed. He had stopped listening to the defense attorney no earlier than five minutes, but somehow he felt like he had missed the important part of the speech, again, because he was in his office? He should have stayed home.

"Mh?"

"I find it disrespectful as n-"

But Barba had stopped listening again, in favor of widening his eyes in alarm when he felt he could no longer stop what was in his stomach from staying where it should have been. He got up from his chair and reached his destination in a run of shame until he could kneel against the floor and put back in the toilet which he had only reached thanks to the shameless luck he seemed to be showing off that day. Why was he sick? He was never sick. He couldn't remember that throwing up had ever been worse than it had been this time, but maybe he was too intoxicated or too delusional for the memories to come back to him.

"Barba?"

Christ. The sound seemed to make matters worse, he stretched a finger in the direction from which he assumed the voice had come, in a silent gesture of waiting for him to vomit before he could even try to speak to him, what he got was a hand stroking his back as he tried to recover from the gruesome experience.

"Can you get up?"

Carisi. Of course it would have been Carisi to be forced to his painful show of humiliation, who else?

"If you want, we can-"

Barba raised an open hand beckoning him to shut up trying to remove both hands of the man from his body, along the way he hit what he thought was the detective's face and he didn't care, he thought it almost like a payment for seeing him humble yourself.

"Can you just go away?"

"And leave you here?"

"Yes."

"On the bathroom floor?"

Barba turned to look at him and his face contorted into an expression of disgust, as if he had just remembered being slumped against the shabby floor of a public bathroom. He raised a hand, feeling Carisi's arm in search of one of his hands.

"Pull me up."

His words had sounded more like a plea than an order but it seemed the man didn't care, he felt two long arms wrap around his body before being lifted and pushed away from the dirty floor.

"You got it?"

Barba nodded but the reality was that the room revolved around him and he had no intention of tempting fate, he rested his forehead against Carisi's chest accompanied by both of his hands looking for a hold to prevent him from sliding down and that was the precise moment his legs gave out, a decidedly undignified squeak left his lips before both of the man's arms returned to their place tightly around his body to keep him from falling.

"Woh! Tell me next time okay?"

Barba murmured in the affirmative before flinching as one of Carisi's cold hands rested on his forehead, he was almost tempted to get away from the touch, but changed his mind when he remembered that he could throw them off balance.

"You're burning-" He didn't need the other to remind him, he couldn't feel part of his face anymore and this didn't seem like an improvement "-if I move will you throw up?"

Carisi almost laughed when the man pulled his face away from his shirt, red cheeks and shining eyes, just to be able to give him a look of pure disdain.

"I will not leave this bathroom."

"Barba come on."

"No."

Carisi rolled his eyes when he saw the pout that had quickly appeared on the man's face, he was cute, he had never had the opportunity to see such a grimace on the other's face and hoped that this would not be his only opportunity.

"Barba..."

"I'm not going to be seen clinging to you pulling me around-"

"Think if I had to carry you in my arms-"

"Carisi."

"And tell me counselor, how do you want to solve it?"

"I'm staying here."

"Until?"

"Um- until closing."

"Yes? And then? How are you going to get home?"

"With an uber."

He couldn't stop a smile from making its way onto his face "What if I should feel worse?"

"Don't you have a job, detective?"

"Actually, i was here to bring you some documents, so no. "

"Why do you hate me God?" a whisper was all that Carisi could hear.

"Did you say something?"

"No?"

Barba's seemingly perfect plan was starting to fail, because just then a man decided to walk in and run into their tangled form, paused undecided on what he should do, then turned and went back where he came from.

"How many more people do you need to enter this bathroom before you decide we can't stay here?"

"Carisi-"

"Yes?"

"Leave me here, I promise I won't blame you if i die."

Carisi rolled her eyes and snorted playfully before changing positions so she could better support the shorter man when they started moving.

"You are so dramatic."

"I'm not."

"Barba."

"Mh-"

"You will force me to drag you if you continue to be so stubborn."

"I would like to see you try ..."

This time the person who broke into the room seemed to know Barba, looked at them, laughed and then continued on his way to one of the stables.

"Carisi? How far is your car?"

"Thank God, I was wondering how long it would take."

One of the hands that Barba held against his chest rose as a blow in a weak blow, before returning to rest in its original position.

"Shut up and walk."

"So bossy."

"Shut up."

Fortunately for the "dying" man, hardly anyone was walking through the corridors of the building, they only received a couple of weird looks before they reached the safe place that had become Carisi's car and not with little difficulty they both managed to get there unharmed at Barba's apartment, before the latter exclaimed "I'm going to get sick-" and so they both ended up again on the floor, this time clean, of a bathroom, with the man bent over and coughing profusely with his head bowed in the toilet and Carisi massaging his back whispering words of comfort. Barba had lost all strength to get those gentle hands away from him and frankly he wouldn't have wanted them to leave him, because he would stop the one good thing about a bad day.

"You all right?" Barba nodded unable to formulate an answer without throwing up again "Do you want to get up?" at this he shook his head alarmed that the man would try to remove him from the floor "Do you have something to lower the fever?" he shook his head again "How- never mind. Will you be okay if I leave you alone for a while?" he raised his head from where he was rubbing it against his arm to watch Carisi get up and walk away from him.

"Are you leaving?"

His sounded more like a plea than a question, to which the taller man hurriedly raised both hands as if he wanted to erase that thought altogether.

"No! No- am I just going to buy some medicines?"

"But you'll come back later right?"

He must have been pathetic, he didn't want Carisi to stay and nurse him in those pitiful conditions, but his mind was not entirely clear, clouded by what must have been a high fever and fatigue.

"I promise."

"Would you want to marry me?"

Carisi's eyes widened ridiculously at the unexpected question, before a smile made its way to his face.

"You don't need to marry me, I'll come back here, you won't even notice that I missed -" an amused snort "- and then you should take me on a date before you ask me to marry you."

Barba nodded as if he were thinking carefully about the information acquired "Do you want to come on a date with me?"

"Ask me when you get better, okay?"

A muffled murmur was the only answer he received.

-

The department's annual parties were the least anticipated time of year for everyone who worked there, there was no reason to be forced to put on a suit and be forced to spend an evening in the company of anyone with a badge, worst of all is that almost everyone who worked in contact with the department received an invitation, which did not exclude Rafael Barba from the list. He didn't hate parties, only parties where he was forced to be surrounded by people who would likely glance at him and whisper nasty comments behind his back. Probably he had lost a case, or he had won one that pointed to a colleague as guilty, perhaps because he was Cuban, or perhaps because he had undermined their pride by belittling them on occasion, there were so many reasons why he did not want to be there and a of the strongest points was the bad food he should have eaten.

"Counselor!"

Barba almost smiled when he recognized that voice, he turned to witness the sight of Carisi dressed for the occasion, two glasses tightly held in his hands as he headed in his direction, perhaps the evening would not prove to be a complete waste of time.

"Carisi, are you enjoying the night?"

"Not as much as you counselor."

She handed him a glass.

"And for me?"

The man nodded and rolled his eyes as Barba checked the contents by bringing his nose closer and inhaling.

"You can trust me when I tell you I didn't put anything in your glass, to take advantage of you."

"In your line of work, this isn't fun."

"No, it isn't, but it isn't tonight either."

"So you noticed."

"Hard not to do."

"I didn't think you were so perceptive, you surprise me."

"Careful Barba, it almost sounded like a compliment."

"Who knows."

Barba put his lips to the glass and swallowed the contents hoping that this would allow him to divert attention from the group of people who were pointing at him and making faces at each other.

"Y- you're cute."

His eyes widened almost to the extreme and his throat threatened to throw out what he had just swallowed, he turned to look at the taller man who had tried to hide the blush on his cheeks by taking a sip of his drink.

"How did you say sorry?"

"You look good tonight."

"Are you implying that other days aren't?"

"What? No! I just wanted to say you're cut- your dress is really beautiful."

Barba looked down and smiled "You look good too"

"Vol-"

"Carisi?"

They both turned at the sound of the detective's last name spoken aloud and when Barba noticed that the call had been made by the men who had kept throwing unwanted glances at him he decided it was his time.

"I'll look for Olivia."

He didn't wait to hear the man's answer, he walked away at a brisk pace starting to scan the area in search of the woman he was looking for. He found her in a corner sitting at a table with Rollins who was getting up to go get more food or more simply to avoid having to talk to him, he approached and sat down trying to avoid looking in the direction he was coming from.

"Rafa. How's it going?"

"What do you think about it?" Barba's expression twisted slightly "I haven't had the honor of tasting this year's delicious dishes yet, give me a preview."

Olivia waved a contemptuous hand. "Nothing exciting, I promise you", she said "Where did you leave Carisi?"

"He found company."

"Oh?" Olivia asked cautiously.

"Remember those homicide suspect detectives against wich i lost after one of the witnesses mysteriously disappeared?"

"Rafa ..."

"Those who waited at the exit of the Supreme Court with one hand on their holster and reminded me that they were the ones who had the guns and not me-" he pointed to "- it's them." Though Barba said it fairly conversationally, his tone was belied by the overly aggressive way he set his glass on the table, his expression grim.

"Rafael-" he said firmly, feeling a little too much as if he was going to convince Noah to let go of one of his wildest fantasies "I don't think Carisi knows, you should have talked-"

"He's a grown man and can decide who he prefers to spend time with."

"You're maddening-" Olivia's patience ran out "You should know that Carisi likes you."

"I don't think you realize what you're implying."

"I do. Do you?"

"You know how Carisi feels about authority figures-"

"Rafa ..."

Barba's eyes flashed on his and then moved away. "Maybe I noticed." he murmured.

"And what are you doing sitting here?"

"In your reasoning, you assume that I return the feelings."

"Would you like to tell me you don't?"

"Can I take this?" It was the answer from Barba who was vaguely indicating Olivia's still full glass who nodded absently and watched as he drank his scotch and pulled the chair away from the table to get back on his feet, something almost triumphant in his expression. "Is this when you leave?" she asked wearily.

Barba smiled "I hope so." he turned and started walking towards the last place he remembered seeing Carisi and it was there that he found him in what seemed like a heated discussion with the group of men he had joined, perhaps too kind to refuse.  
When he was close enough, he bravely slipped a hand against the taller detective's back, who stiffened before relaxing once the identity of the limb's owner was verified.

"I was thinking of going out-"

"I come with you."

"Counselor-" he gritted his teeth "-we were talking about you with your friend here."

Barba flashed one of his standard smiles "Only good things I hope."

"It couldn't be otherwise."

"Of course-" he took a break to check that Carisi was still there by his side "-it was a pleasure gentlemen, but now we have to go."

"See you around Carisi."

"You can bet."

He looked away as the detective squeezed the hands that were offered to him, retrieved their coats and headed outward.

"If they had been less I would have punched them."

Barba laughed "I'm glad you held back."

Carisi looked down to meet that of the shorter man "They said some things about t-"

"I know Carisi."

"You know?"

"I suspected it."

Silence.

"The food was bad." food was a safe topic and Barba was happy that the other had decided to direct the conversation towards that topic.

"When did you have time to eat?"

"I was here before you-" it seemed as if Carisi was thinking hard before uttering any words "Barba?"

"Mh?"

"Have you had dinner?"

"What do you think about it?"

"I'm leaving-"

"Oh-"

"-to dine in a place where meat doesn't taste like a shoe-"

"How do you know what a shoe tastes like?"

"This is a story for another day. I wanted to ask you to join me, like as in a date."

He observed how Carisi's hand was compulsively waving for every word the man uttered and his response was not long in coming "Shouldn't I have asked?"

"Do you remember?"

"Yeah, I would have preferred not to, but here I am."

He looked at Carisi's face until he stopped on the eyes in which he could witness the passage of hope, fear and for a single moment he saw that same face close in a wounded expression and decided that he would never want to attend a show like this again.

"I'd like to have dinner with you."

"Would you like to have dinner with me?"  
Carisi was looking at him almost as if he expected a mockery.

"Did I stammer? Yes Sonny I want to go on a date with you."

"Really?"

Barba rolled his eyes and started walking "Yes. "

"Are you sure?"

He heard the man's footsteps stretch to reach him and be able to walk beside him "What are you five? Once again, yes."

"Can I call you Rafael?"

Barba had lost count of how many times he had dramatically rolled the pupils of his eyes that night, but he did it again and the man beside him laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there,  
> I wrote this story because I am really pissed that every time someone approaches Barba to "threaten" him for no reason, NOBODY, approaches to kick their ass, I had no doubts about who that someone would be, and yes I know that in the episode with Amaro he is not there yet, but who cares. I gave my baby justice.
> 
> The first two cases are inspired by the episodes "Daydream believer 16x20" and I don't remember the other one, but if you look for some parts of the speech you will find it. Let me know if you liked my work or it sucked, I really appreciate your opinion. See you soon!👋✨


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